GULF SHORES, Alabama - Mac Cain stood in the rain with his son, Mac Cain IV, on Saturday morning, about 40 people back in an autograph line at SEC BeachFest. Despite being several yards from reaching the shelter of the autograph tent, Cain saw the silver lining in all those gray clouds blowing over the main public beach in Gulf Shores.

"I'm looking at it from the positive standpoint," Cain said. "It's going to drive some people away, so he can walk around a little more freely and the lines aren't going to be as long. We've only been here about an hour, and he's had a blast so far. He got his picture made with the national championship trophy, which tickled him to death. He had to get him an SEC shirt. He's been wanting one of those with all the teams on it. We've kind of visited all the little places here, and he shot some baskets.

"We're probably going to hang out all day unless the weather gets too bad."

Rain fell all day on SEC BeachFest, a three-day gathering of fans and former players and coaches to celebrate all things SEC football. The disagreeable conditions negatively affected attendance.

Saturday's attendance was about half of Friday's turnout, when organizers would have expected Saturday's attendance to double that of Friday, said Joanie Flynn, the vice president of marketing for Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism.

While the wet weather dampened the crowd, it appeared to have less effect on the enthusiasm of those who came despite the rain. For example, on the football field in the FanZone fueled by BP, a cheerleading clinic was taking place on one end while boys were running around in a pickup football game on the other half. While the cheerleaders' feet and the football landed with a splash every time they hit the turf, neither the clinic nor the game was called because of rain.

"I think it's great for the city and the area to bring everybody in like this," said former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer, who is one of the 22 former coaches and players attending the event. "It's a shame the weather hasn't cooperated today for the city to raise awareness of what they have.

"Obviously, during the (vacation) season everybody comes here. But it's also a good place to be in the offseason. Last night, we did a little video. They're selling the fact that when your team's on the road somewhere, just come to the beach and have a nice weekend."

Cain recently retired to Foley after 32 years as a teacher, high school basketball coach and athletic director in Georgia.

"We're big SEC football fans," he said. "Both of us are Georgia fans, but my other son (Peyton) is an LSU fan, so we've got the SEC covered."

The Georgia fans were waiting in the rain on Saturday in a line to get the autograph of Fulmer, who coached Bulldogs rival Tennessee for 16 seasons.

"We're going to get coach Fulmer's autograph just because he's a good man," Cain said. "I was a high school coach, and I like coach Fulmer. I'm a big Georgia fan, but I like coach Fulmer and some of these other guys. I guess the only school I can't really bring myself to pull for is Alabama, and that's going to be tough living down here. I told a buddy of mine the other day if I hear 'Sweet Home, Alabama' played one more time, I'm going to hit somebody. But that's part of living down here.

"After last year's (SEC championship) game (between Alabama and Georgia) -- and I was there and that was one of the best college football games I've ever seen -- I don't really have anything against them. If Georgia can't beat them and they can win another national championship, I'm OK with that.

"Like I said, we're big SEC fans."

Greg and Alex Bowen of Mobile watched as their sons, Christopher and Zach, both St. Paul's students, tried to throw footballs through the opening between the hands of the faux wide receiver in the Academy Sports and Outdoors tent. They had a reason to be at SEC BeachFest beyond being fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

"I won a weekend at Caribe (Resort in Orange Beach) and four VIP passes through a Facebook contest," Alex Bowen said. "We came yesterday afternoon, and the kids got to swim at Caribe, and we came over this morning.

"It's nice. It's raining at home, too."

Behind the Tailgater Magazine tent, the fire was going in the smoker despite the rain.

"After a while, if you're committed to come out and stay out in it, you've just got to go," Tailgater publisher Randy K. Dye said, giving his advice for tailgating in the rain. "You've got to do what you're going to do. Obviously, you want shelter and you want to use the tools that are available to create an environment that you're going to stay somewhat dry, but you've just got to roll with it."

Dye could roll with it on Saturday in the custom Game Day Mini-Suite when he chose to get out of the elements.

"What we're basically doing, obviously working this weekend with BeachFest, is providing an opportunity for people to see kind of unique stuff," Dye said. "So we brought out the Meadow Creek smoker, we got the Big Green Egg and the Grill Barrow. We're just showing off a lot of cool things that we put in Tailgater."

Tailgating and SEC football fans go together like ribs and sauce, as Dye was aware.

"Everybody does it differently," he said of tailgating. "There's really no right way or wrong way to tailgate. We basically have three rules: Have fun, be courteous to everyone around you and don't go to jail, be responsible. Basically, it's like-minded people who enjoy fellowship with one another. Our next issue will be our top-20 tailgating college schools, but how do you rank one over the other?"

But the magazine did, and while Dye didn't want to give away the rankings, he had a hint for those wondering how SEC schools fared: "There's one on the cover."

SEC BeachFest was scheduled to continue until 8 p.m. Saturday, when a concert by Rodney Atkins will crank up. SEC BeachFest concludes on Sunday, running from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

On Sunday, the Regions Bank autograph tent will have sessions from 11 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, former Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson and former Alabama and Kentucky coach Bill Curry will sign during the first session. The second session will feature four former players - Florida wide receiver Chris Doering, Ole Miss quarterback Jake Gibbs, Georgia quarterback David Greene and Tennessee defensive back Inky Johnson.

On the main stage for the CSS Legends Interview Series on Sunday, three former quarterbacks - Arkansas' Matt Jones, Auburn's Ben Leard and Texas A&M's Bucky Richardson - will appear at 11:30 a.m.; former coaches Gene Stallings, Pat Dye and Howard Schnellenberger will take the stage at 12:30 p.m.; and Doering, Gibbs, Greene and Johnson will be speaking at 1:30 p.m.

As the wind joined the rain on Saturday afternoon, the CSS Legends Interview Series moved from the main stage on the beach to the VIP tent.